Author: Patrick Q. MasonPublisher: RoutledgeISBN: 1317638255Size: 25.83 MBFormat: PDF, MobiView: 4868Download
What is Mormonism? A Student’s Introduction is an easy-to-read and informative overview of the religion founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. This short and lively book covers Mormonism’s history, core beliefs, rituals, and devotional practices, as well as the impact on the daily lives of its followers. The book focuses on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Salt Lake City-based church that is the largest and best-known expression of Mormonism, whilst also exploring lesser known churches that claim descent from Smith’s original revelations. Designed for undergraduate religious studies and history students, What is Mormonism? provides a reliable and easily digestible introduction to a steadily growing religion that continues to befuddle even learned observers of American religion and culture.

Author: Publisher: ZondervanISBN: 031087341XSize: 39.57 MBFormat: PDF, ePub, MobiView: 7423Download
Current facts about Mormonism•Over 11 million members.•Over 60,000 full-time missionaries—more than any other single missionary-sending organization in the world.•More than 310,000 converts annually.•As many as eighty percent of converts come from Protestant backgrounds. (In Mormon circles, the saying is, “We baptize a Baptist church every week.”) •Within fifteen years, the numbers of missionaries and converts will roughly double.•Within eighty years, with adherents exceeding 267 million, Mormonism could become the first world-religion to arise since Islam. You may know the statistics. What you probably don’t know are the advances the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is making in apologetics and academic respectability. With superb training, Mormon scholars outclass many of their opponents. Arguments against Mormon claims are increasingly refuted as outdated, misinformed, or poorly argued. The New Mormon Challenge is a response to the burgeoning challenge of scholarly Mormon apologetics. Written by a team of respected Christian scholars, it is free of caricature, sensationalism, and diatribe. The respectful tone and responsible, rigorous, yet readable scholarship set this book in a class of its own. The New Mormon Challenge recycles no previous material and duplicates no one’s efforts. Instead, responding to the best LDS scholarship, it offers freshly researched and well-documented rebuttals of Mormon truth claims. Most of the chapter topics have never been addressed, and the criticisms and arguments are almost entirely new. But The New Mormon Challenge does not merely challenge Mormon beliefs; it offers the LDS Church and her members ways to move forward.The New Mormon Challenge will help you understand the intellectual appeal of Mormonism, and it will reveal many of the fundamental weaknesses of the Mormon worldview. Whether you are sharing the gospel with Mormons or are investigating Mormonism for yourself, this book will help you accurately understand Mormonism and see the superiority of the historic Christian faith. Outstanding scholarship and sound methodology make this an ideal textbook. The biblical, historical, scientific, philosophical, and theological discussions are fascinating and will appeal to Christians and Mormons alike. Exemplifying Christian scholarship at its best, The New Mormon Challenge pioneers a new genre of literature on Mormonism.The EditorsFrancis J. Beckwith (Ph.D., Fordham University), Carl Mosser (Ph.D. candidate, University of St. Andrews), and Paul Owen (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) are respected authorities on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the authors of various books and significant articles on Mormonism. Their individual biographies as well as information on the book’s contributors appear inside. With contributors including such respected scholars as Craig L. Blomberg, William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, and others, The New Mormon Challenge is, as Richard Mouw states in his foreword, “an important event for both Protestant evangelicals and Mormons” that models “to the evangelical community what it is like to engage in respectful and meaningful exploration of a viewpoint with which we disagree on key points.”“In recent years, Mormon scholars have produced a body of literature that has been largely ignored by evangelicals. This current volume takes a giant step forward in correcting this oversight in a way that is both intellectually vigorous, yet respectful.”—Ken Mulholland, President, Salt Lake Theological Seminary“Intellectually serious evangelical responses to the faith of the Latter-day Saints have been depressingly rare. This book represents a significant contribution to a conversation that, really, has just begun.”—Daniel Peterson, Brigham Young University; Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS)“Finally we have a book from evangelicals in which the authors have made

Author: W. Walker F. JohansonPublisher: St. Martin's GriffinISBN: 1466804335Size: 50.59 MBFormat: PDF, DocsView: 820Download
Organized in a simple and easy-to-read format, this book aims to answer dozens of common questions concerning the people, practices, history, and culture of the Mormon faith. Are Mormons Christians? What is the Book of Mormon? How does Mormonism contrast with the world's other religions? What exactly do today's Mormons believe? The book offers readers of all backgrounds an accessible and informative Q&A session that covers all facets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Although sometimes misunderstood, Mormonism is the fastest growing religion in the world. Johanson's clear and concise volume shows us the ideas, beliefs, and rites behind this faith.

Author: Douglas James DaviesPublisher: Cambridge University PressISBN: 9780521520645Size: 30.46 MBFormat: PDF, DocsView: 3479Download
Although one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains a mystery in terms of its core beliefs and theological structure. This timely book provides an important introduction to the basic history, doctrines and practices of The LDS--the "Mormon" Church. Emphasizing sacred texts and prophecies as well as the crucial Temple rituals of endowments, marriage and baptism, it is written by a non-believer, who describes Mormonism in ways that non-Mormons can understand.

Author: Eric Alden EliasonPublisher: University of Illinois PressISBN: 9780252069123Size: 22.95 MBFormat: PDF, ePubView: 2631Download
Mormons and Mormonism gathers key essays by leading scholars on the history, foundational ideas and practices, and worldwide expansion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The ideal introduction to Mormonism, this choice sampler provides a selective overview of what many historians consider the most innovative and successful religion to emerge during the spiritual ferment of antebellum America. This volume explains how the earliest Mormons viewed their religion and suggests that the Book of Mormon appeared to them as an exciting document of social protest. Contributors consider the history of persecution of the Mormons, the church's relationship with the state of Utah and with other divisions of Christianity, and culture clashes in the church's missionary efforts. Mormons and Mormonism also places beliefs such as vicarious baptism for the dead in a larger context of community and religious ideals. The founding of Mormonism and its rapid emergence as a new world religion are among the most intriguing aspects of American religious history and among the most neglected in the religion classroom. This much-needed volume lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the LDS Church and its historical and potential impact on the United States and the world.

Author: Jacob O. Gurley, IIIPublisher: WestBow PressISBN: 1449775551Size: 28.77 MBFormat: PDFView: 1739Download
A familiar sight in America today is seeing two young men wearing ties, white shirts with name tags, and black pants pedaling their bicycles through towns and neighborhoods. Most recognize the uniform of young Mormon missionaries on their two-year mission seeking to promote and convert anyone willing to listen to their story. What is becoming increasingly familiar is the rise of entertainment and political figures also identifying themselves as practicing Mormons. What is difficult for many Americans is deciding whether the gospel the LDS Church has promoted over the past two centuries is the same gospel proclaimed by traditional Christian churches over the past two millennia. Are they sincere Christians, a non-Christian cult, or something else altogether? This book seeks to provide an understanding of the history and basic beliefs of traditional Christianity and compare them to the history and beliefs of Mormonism.

Author: Bill McKeeverPublisher: Baker BooksISBN: 144122226XSize: 55.90 MBFormat: PDF, ePubView: 7580Download
Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. For those who have wondered in what specific ways Mormonism differs from the Christian faith, Mormonism 101 provides definitive answers, examining the major tenets of Mormon theology and comparing them with orthodox Christian beliefs. Perfect for students of religion and anyone who wants to have answers when Mormons come calling.

Author: Terryl L. GivensPublisher: Columbia University PressISBN: 0231520603Size: 46.48 MBFormat: PDF, DocsView: 5622Download
This anthology offers rare access to key original documents illuminating Mormon history, theology, and culture in the United States from the nineteenth century to today. Brief introductions describe the theological significance of each text and its reflection of the practices, issues, and challenges that have defined and continue to define the Mormon community. These documents balance mainstream and peripheral thought and religious experience, institutional and personal perspective, and theoretical and practical interpretation, representing pivotal moments in LDS history and correcting decades of misinformation and stereotype. The authors of these documents, male and female, not only celebrate but speak critically and question mainline LDS teachings on sexuality, politics, gender, race, polygamy, and other issues. Selections largely focus on the Salt Lake–based LDS tradition, with a section on the post–Joseph Smith splintering and its creation of a variety of similar yet different Mormon groups. The documents are arranged chronologically within specific categories to capture both the historical and doctrinal development of Mormonism in the United States.

Author: Reid NeilsonPublisher: Oxford University PressISBN: 0199913285Size: 79.69 MBFormat: PDFView: 5221Download
The 1893 Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, presented the Latter-day Saints with their first opportunity to exhibit the best of Mormonism for a national and an international audience after the abolishment of polygamy in 1890. The Columbian Exposition also marked the dramatic reengagement of the LDS Church with the non-Mormon world after decades of seclusion in the Great Basin. Between May and October 1893, over seven thousand Latter-day Saints from Utah attended the international spectacle popularly described as the ''White City.'' While many traveled as tourists, oblivious to the opportunities to ''exhibit'' Mormonism, others actively participated to improve their church's public image. Hundreds of congregants helped create, manage, and staff their territory's impressive exhibit hall; most believed their besieged religion would benefit from Utah's increased national profile. Moreover, a good number of Latter-day Saint women represented the female interests and achievements of both Utah and its dominant religion. These women hoped to use the Chicago World's Fair as a platform to improve the social status of their gender and their religion. Additionally, two hundred and fifty of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's best singers competed in a Welsh eiseddfodd, a musical competition held in conjunction with the Chicago World's Fair, and Mormon apologist Brigham H. Roberts sought to gain LDS representation at the affiliated Parliament of Religions. In the first study ever written of Mormon participation at the Chicago World's Fair, Reid L. Neilson explores how Latter-day Saints attempted to ''exhibit'' themselves to the outside world before, during, and after the Columbian Exposition, arguing that their participation in the Exposition was a crucial moment in the Mormon migration to the American mainstream and its leadership's discovery of public relations efforts. After 1893, Mormon leaders sought to exhibit their faith rather than be exhibited by others.

Author: Rodney StarkPublisher: Columbia University PressISBN: 023150991XSize: 46.73 MBFormat: PDF, ePubView: 362Download
Will Mormonism be the next world faith, one that will rival Catholicism, Islam, and other major religions in terms of numbers and global appeal? This was the question Rodney Stark addressed in his much-discussed and much-debated article, "The Rise of a New World Faith" (1984), one of several essays on Mormonism included in this new collection. Examining the religion's growing appeal, Rodney Stark concluded that Mormons could number 267 million members by 2080. In what would become known as "the Stark argument," Stark suggested that the Mormon Church offered contemporary sociologists and historians of religion an opportunity to observe a rare event: the birth of a new world religion. In the years following that article, Stark has become one of the foremost scholars of Mormonism and the sociology of religion. This new work, the first to collect his influential writings on the Mormon Church, includes previously published essays, revised and rewritten for this volume. His work sheds light on both the growth of Mormonism and on how and why certain religions continue to grow while others fade away. Stark examines the reasons behind the spread of Mormonism, exploring such factors as cultural continuity with the faiths from which it seeks converts, a volunteer missionary force, and birth rates. He explains why a demanding faith like Mormonism has such broad appeal in today's world and considers the importance of social networks in finding new converts. Stark's work also presents groundbreaking perspectives on larger issues in the study of religion, including the nature of revelation and the reasons for religious growth in an age of modernization and secularization.